How to Do Hard Things

Occasionally, I have people tell me they don’t know how on earth I manage to… get to church on time with 8 kids and no husband, navigate the zoo or the state fair all by myself with the kids, get the grocery shopping done with all the kids in tow, homeschool so many kids, or any number of other difficult endeavors.

It’s not that I am super-human. I’m not even super-human lite.

I’m just plain. Plain ol’ ordinary.

I get tired and cranky. I have doubts. I don’t know if I can do it.

But I believe there is One who can get me through. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)

This is not to say that hard things suddenly become easy because I have faith. A quick reading of the book of Acts in the New Testament will prove that there were some mighty tough circumstances the early Christians faced, and I’m not talking about getting through the grocery store with cranky toddlers.

Doing hard things takes determination. I CAN do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I really CAN.

When our family was offered free tickets to The State Fair of Texas, and my husband was called out of town, he told me, “It’s up to you, but I don’t think you should try to take the children by yourself. It will be too much for you. I’m afraid you can’t handle it alone.“

Well, I pretty much had to do it after that, didn’t I?! I was determined that I could do this hard thing.

I once watched a documentary about a group of people who were stranded at sea for days on a small inflatable raft. The survivor telling the story recalled that there was one man in the group who kept fretting that they were never going to live through this ordeal. He reminded himself and others again and again that he just didn’t think he could make it. Even though he was in roughly the same physical condition as all the others, sure enough, he did not live to see the rescue.

Doing hard things is… hard. But if you are determined, and if you believe you can do it through Christ who strengthens you, you can get through it.

You can do hard things. Don’t think you can’t. Read about these ladies doing really hard things and be encouraged:

From Katie: “People tell me I am brave. People tell me I am strong. People tell me good job. Well here is the truth of it. I am really not that brave, I am not really that strong, and I am not doing anything spectacular. I am just doing what God called me to do as a follower of Him. Feed His sheep, do unto the least of His people.”

That is one of my favorite scriptures (Philippians 4:13)! And when my husband says things like “I don’t think you can handle it.” Then I make sure I do it and make it look easy! I’m happy that you were able to go to the fair, that’s a fun treat!

Amen and amen! I have an old wooden sign that my mom gave me when I started work and worried that I wouldn’t be good enough which is essentially a paraphrase of that very verse … “Lord, help me to remember today that there is nothing that You and I can’t do together.” 30+ years later, I still find encouragement in that simple sign every single day. With God, ALL things are possible!

I know when some people make comments like “how do you do it all,” I say, “Well, I don’t watch TV, I don’t play video games, I don’t talk on the phone a lot, I don’t regularly spend an inordinate amount of time Internet surfing (though I’ll admit to being occasionally sucked in).” When you take away so many of the habits other people think are imperative to relaxation, then you have gobs of time to get stuff done. It’s all in your priorities.

I know with each child, I thought, “this is all I can handle,” but with each new one I got new grace to handle more. You don’t know what you can do until you try.

A few months ago, my 20 year old daughter was going through some hard times. I texted her that verse. Was I surprised, the next day, when I found out she had tatooed it on her leg! My preacher said it was OK, she just needed a “visual”. I said, “Couldn’t she just write it on an index card and carry it in her purse?” So I tell people to be careful what they text to their kids. You never know who will see it, or where it will end up!

Perspective is everything!! When I hear a mom say something like, “I nearly went crazy…I had to take ALL 4 kids to the store”, I want to say, “What?? I take the 8 who still live at home all the time!! 4 would be a vacation!!”
My hubby laughs at me taking everybody to the large library in a city an hour away, but hey! We have a great time, and we sing along in the car, and listen to books on tape and radio dramas…it’s really a GREAT LIFE!!!!